Sentiment
by ManicMelancholyMonkey
Summary: One-shot: Dracula holds his newborn daughter for the first time. Fandom: Hotel Transylvania


AN: I don't want to make excuses but I haven't written fanfiction in years. I'm more than a little rusty and am still too impatient to find an editor (or better yet, edit my own stories) so what you see is what you get.

Characters/Warnings: Dracula, Baby!Mavis, Martha Dracula. This is pure sap.

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Martha Dracula stood on her bedroom balcony, surveying the land as the moon touched upon it. Her newborn daughter lay silently in her arms after a day's worth of exhaustion had eaten up all of her energy.

Behind the two of them, a familiar vampire stood in a proud pose. Dracula regarded his new family, now made whole, with adoring eyes and sighed. He half-believed that the sight before him was but an illusion of his own willful mind. Such a thing was not necessarily unthinkable given his background. Yet no matter how many times he pinched himself, Dracula stayed where he was, perfectly happy.

"Oh Darling, come look." Martha's beckoning broke through her husband's train of thought, and the ancient vampire looked to find Martha with the oddest expression on her face. She was holding Mavis as far out as she dared in order for Dracula to get a closer look at their daughter. "She's having sweet dreams."

Dracula hesitated but succeeded in leaning far enough to get a look at the child's face. Mavis was indeed asleep and dreaming, from what he could tell. Her eyes were shifting behind her eyelids and her little brow had furrowed as though she were in deep thought.

"I can see her fine from here." The vampire held both hands up, batting them lightly at his wife and child in a gesture that she go on doing what she had been doing.

Martha smirked, nose twitching with good humor. "Sure you can."

"I'd be willing to stake my life on it." He answered, easily winning a smile from his wife.

"Drac," She laughed. "Come on."

She stepped away from the balcony and into their bedroom, ready to send Mavis into her father's waiting arms.

"Eh…" In an instant, Dracula's entire demeanor changed from poised to anxious. He instinctively stepped back and away from Martha's advances. "You're doing fine without me Honey."

"You don't want to hold your own child?" Martha stopped. She frowned at the change in her paramour.

"No, no, no, no!" He shook his head vigorously, "I just…"

Martha waited patiently, although her frown deepened as she realized that it had been like this ever since Mavis was born. Martha would implore her husband to hold the baby but receive no more than a sheepishly made excuse.

"I don't want to harm her."

"Oh honey…" Martha breathed. She turned toward her husband with Mavis pulled snug against her once more, and moved to place a hand against his cheek. It didn't escape her when Dracula inched backward, presumably due to having his daughter so near, but Martha hardly paid it mind. Instead she favored to look into his eyes, an action that put traditional hypnotizing to shame in the face of Dracula. He gave her his full attention, an uncharacteristically forlorn expression on his face that caused adoration to bloom in Martha. "You won't hurt her."

"But—"Dracula began; he looked at Martha earnestly as a part of him wished she would simply let it be. He couldn't quite explain why he was so reluctant to hold Mavis. He supposed it had something to do with his strength as he'd mentioned, although he knew that vampire children could withstand plenty on their own.

Perhaps it was simply because he could not wrap his mind around the fact that Mavis was his just as much as she was Martha's. Every time he looked at his wife and daughter, the two most important beings in his existence, it was hard to imagine him being any part of the beauty and awe that he saw. He hadn't received a reputation for nothing after all.

Mavis began to wail and Dracula tensed, feelings of dread and guilt washing over him as he gaped at his daughter. It was as though she knew what he had been thinking.

"I trust you." Martha murmured. "And Mavis will trust you too." With her free arm Martha lifted both of Dracula's hands.

Dracula stilled as the torrent of worrisome thoughts ceased within his mind. He looked from his bride to the little girl that she was holding out for him to take, from Martha's reassuring smile to his whimpering daughter, and he let out a breath of anxiety.

The girl continued to cry in her father's arms and he stood there awkwardly with her wriggling body in his hands. It took more than a moment's worth for him to adjust her into his arms, but even when she was secure Mavis continued to bawl.

Martha bade him press onward, words of encouragement pouring from her lips as she guided him into a tender rocking motion. It didn't appear to be working; that is until Dracula found a soothing pace that stemmed the baby's cries, and his fear. Before he knew it, Dracula was rocking back and forth with his little girl. He found himself grinning from ear to ear as her wailing came to an end.

And then Mavis's eyes opened.

Dracula gasped.

"See," Martha cooed, "she knows who you are, Daddy."

Dracula continued to gaze at his daughter, subconsciously memorizing every detail of the tiny face that had moments before been creased with worry. Mavis gave him a sleepy but peaceful look from beneath her lashes and Dracula was overwhelmed with a sudden sense of love for the being in his arms.

As Martha took the time to fuss over Mavis's wrappings, he hummed as the heavy feeling split into fluttering nervousness. He could feel it in his bones, the desire to sing and laugh and cry out all at once. And as if sensing his jitters, Martha paused in her loosening of the child's blankets to place a hand on his. The act helped him regain his calm and Dracula tilted his head to the side, immediately resting it atop Martha's own.

The two continued to watch Mavis sleeping peacefully while night clouds rolled by outside. Above them the moon shone, causing a soft and eerie glow to spread itself across the land.

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AN: Yup, that's it. I wrote this in an hour and I'm not looking back. Hopefully you found some enjoyment in this pandering mess.


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